Mediagazer: Roblox plans to hide advertisements from users 13 and younger, after nonprofit Truth in Advertising filed an FTC complaint in April 2022 against the company (Jeffrey Rousseau/GamesIndustry.biz)

3:30 PM ET, March 31, 2023

Top News:

The NYT, LAT, and WaPo won't buy Twitter Blue; NYT, LAT, BuzzFeed, and Politico won't reimburse reporters for Blue, but Semafor and other small outlets plan to — BuzzFeed isn't ponying up, but for other outlets, paying might make sense. — Pranav Dixit

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, @sarafischer, Techdirt, @brooklynmarie, @alex_panetta, The Comeback, @pkafka, CNN, @hansmahncke, @maxwelltani, @oliverdarcy, @jessespector, @rmac18, @roslyntalusan, @bdherzinger, @thekidskoob, @ryangrim, @claire_goforth, @thomaschattwill, @timfullerton, @skooks, @paleofuture, @boydhilton, @davidclinchnews, @williamshatner, @stevelackmeyer, @ndrew_lawrence, @stevanzetti, @dancow, Vox, @moorehn, @andrewmarchand, @jbenton, @mattnavarra, @roslyntalusan, @katebevan, @studentactivism, @bobmoorenews, @johniadarola, @mikeisaac, @spj_tweets, @tinu, @helenkennedy, @kt_so_it_goes, @cfidd, @pkafka, @charles_gaba, @dellcam, @scottnover, @benjysarlin, @wfkars, @chrismessina, @kimmasters, @bruce_arthur, @scottnover, @scalzi, @ewong, @jacobrubashkin, @oliverdarcy, @nicosgonzalez, @andybcampbell, @joshtpm, @themaxburns, @moorehn, @adrianweckler, @wtfis2bdone, @ryanhanrahan, @lxeagle17, Boing Boing, The Wrap, @hammancheez@c.im, Awful Announcing and Social Media Today, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Email: The White House will not pay for Twitter Blue for its staff; the White House and top officials' accounts like POTUS will likely maintain gray checkmarks — The White House will not pay to have its staff's official Twitter profiles continue to be verified, according to guidance issued to staffers via an email obtained by Axios.

Discussion: Bloomberg, @mattdizwhitlock, @bobcesca_go, @ashleygjovik, @wutangkids, @iamsophianelson, @reichlinmelnick, @fordm, @broderick, @evanmcmurry, Vanity Fair, @delpercios, @rory_johnston and The Daily Dot, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
Document: Twitter plans to exempt its top 500 advertisers and 10K most-followed, previously verified organizations from paying $1,000 per month for a checkmark

Alyssa Lukpat / Wall Street Journal:

Top editors of 38 news organizations around the world sign a letter condemning the detention of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich and calling for his immediate release — The editors condemned Mr. Gershkovich's detention in a letter to the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Safi Bugel / The Guardian:

Gal-Dem, an outlet for women and non-binary POC, is closing after eight years, citing the difficulty of relying on partnerships and its membership model — After eight years of operation, staff statement blames financial challenge of running independent media outlet

New York Times:

Fox News hosts rally around Trump following his indictment, denouncing it as politically motivated and as a cause for potential unrest — Despite recent criticism, the network's star personalities joined other leading conservatives in denouncing the indictment as politically motivated and a possible cause for unrest.

Alyssa Boyle / AdExchanger:

A new bipartisan Senate bill, almost identical to a 2022 bill, would force companies with $20B+ in annual digital ad revenue to sell part of their business — Say hello to the US government's latest attempt to force antitrust regulations on the digital advertising industry. — It might sound familiar.

Discussion: AdExchanger, @senmikelee, @swodinsky, Reuters, Marketing Brew, Mike Lee US Senator for Utah, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @berinszoka, Digiday, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @dcnorg and NetChoice

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

UCLA's Hollywood Diversity Report finds that among 2022's top 100 original streaming films, 64% had casts with at least 30% POC vs. 57% for theatrical films — The share of women and people of color in key positions on theatrical releases slide back to 2019 levels in latest annual report

Discussion: @indiewire, @dranachristina, @beingjanine, New York Daily News and @thewrap

Mike Hume / Washington Post:

The Washington Post vows to continue covering gaming even as its gaming news hub Launcher, which began in 2019, officially closes on March 31 — It's not over. Yes, Launcher is ending — officially closing as a subsection of The Post on March 31 following a series of newsroom layoffs — but the mission does not die.

Discussion: @walldo, @rcmacleod, @rcmacleod, @rcmacleod, @teddyamen and @launcherwp

Luke Winkie / Slate:

Interviews with writers who publish daily Wordle clue guides, published by a slew of outlets since they reliably generate substantial traffic — Sam Hill, an editor at the technology website Digital Trends, has penned 647 articles about Wordle. Each of them follows the same basic format …

Discussion: @jbenton, @luke_winkie, @iethics and Mashable

Bloomberg:

Russia's Federal Security Service detains Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on suspicion of “espionage in the interests of the American government” — Russia's Federal Security Service said it detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg …

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Human Rights Watch, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, The Desk, Talking Biz News, Associated Press, @polinaivanovva, @sulliview, @repmcgovern, @congressmanraja, @nytimes, @francescaebel, @dylanbyers, @govmurphy, @billbrowder, @pressfreedom, @dylanbyers, @presssec, @christopherjm, @dwnews, @pressfreedom, @maxseddon, @pressfreedom, @michaeldweiss, @sarahrainsford, @annanemtsova, @shustry, @asluhn, @maxseddon, @lindakinstler, @jazzedloon, @georebekah, Axios, @jimsciutto, @jfberke, @kevinrothrock, @r__politik, @neilphauer, @kevinrothrock, @neilphauer, @felix_light, @leonidragozin, @neilphauer, @lolgop, @brendancarrfcc, @freedomofpress, @timobrien, @tpcarney, European Federation …, @rohded, @newsguild, @mgongadze, @clancyreports, @natashabertrand, @jeffsonnenfeld, @followtheh, @billpascrell, @akurmanaev, @mattmcbradley, The Daily Beast, @oliverdarcy, @domenpresern, @kaitlancollins, @billbrowder, @domenpresern, @moorehn, CNBC, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and Reuters

Jeffrey Rousseau / GamesIndustry.biz:

Roblox plans to hide advertisements from users 13 and younger, after nonprofit Truth in Advertising filed an FTC complaint in April 2022 against the company — Changes come nearly a year after advertising watchdog filed an FTC complaint over company's ad policies

more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: crypto outlet The Block has laid off roughly one-third of staff, including interim CEO Bobby Moran, and promoted head of research Larry Cermak to CEO — The Block, a crypto media company that got caught up in a funding scandal related to disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried …

Discussion: @timccopeland, @kylesgibson and @pressgazette

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